Preparations underway, excitement builds for annual New York Caribbean Carnival
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Preparing for a party this holiday weekend? Well, look no further than on Labor Day, when the annual New York Caribbean Carnival will take place.
The celebration is the nation's largest Caribbean cultural festival, attracting more than a million jubilant participants and spectators.
Community leaders and the NYPD have spent weeks preparing and all say they are ready.
ABC7 New York will provide streaming coverage of the parade here starting at 11 a.m. at abc7ny.com, our mobile and connected TV apps, as well as our YouTube channel.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
This year's highlights will include the triumphant sounds of the steel pan ringing out on the Eastern Parkway at the West Indian American Day Parade.
The D'radoes Steel Orchestra is set to bring the relaxing sound of the pan, birthed in Trinidad and Tobago.
"It started off a a biscuit tin drum, tambu bamboo, old drums," said Isaiah Barrington, D'radoes Steel Orchestra tenor section leader. "And now it turned into a whole orchestra."
The carnival will also be filled with dancers in colorful and bedazzled costumes, as part of the Mas Camp, where designs are worked on for days.
Caribbean Royals Antoine International will be on display to take spectators on a journey around the world through its designs.
New York's weekend-long Caribbean Carnival dates back to the 1920s when it's believed to have started in Harlem before moving to Brooklyn in the mid-1960s, where it continues to draw millions of people each year.
SECURITY PREPARATIONS
As it does every year, the NYPD says it will be out in force to help ensure a safe celebration for everyone.
In a security briefing Friday afternoon, NYPD officials said this year's coverage will include use of police drones, which were used extensively at last year's event.
Six drone teams will be operating at both the J'Ouvert event, which begins at 6 a.m., and the West Indian American Day Parade, which steps off when J'Ouvert concludes around 11 a.m.
"There's also the 67 Precinct drone first responders that we have accessible at all times," said Charles McEvoy, NYPD Chief of Patrol, Brooklyn South. "And there are dozens of temporary cameras strategically deployed throughout the borough in accordance and also to help us with all the other cameras that are deployed as well."
During the West Indian American Day Parade, when people want to go from the north to the south side of Eastern Parkway, there are six different pedestrian crossings at strategic intersections, as well as five different locations within the subway, McEvoy explained.
"I encourage everyone to come out and celebrate with your fellow New Yorkers," said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey. "And be sure to do it safely and responsibly. We accomplish public safety best when we do it together."
No shootings were reported during last year's J'Ouvert festival, for the second straight year, and the parade was violence free until a couple people were injured in shootings and stabbings late in the day.
It was a far cry from prior years of shootings and stabbings, including the fatal 2015 shooting of then-Gov. Cuomo aide Carey Gabay, who was caught in the crossfire of a shootout between rival gangs.
"When I first made captain 21 years ago, I was assigned out in Brooklyn South, and for many years I was the juvenile-response captain," said Maddrey. "And it was very dangerous. It was a tough night to work, when I was ripping and running around all night from scene to scene, shooting to shooting."
But now the city and festival organizers have managed to turn the page back to the event's roots celebrating Caribbean culture.
"We have actually turned a corner now and we have a safe West Indian Day Labor Day weekend," said Rev. Dr. Gil Monrose, past president of GodSquad. "We have an organized J'Ouvert. We have an organized Labor Day weekend."
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